Pain with Tinnitus Spikes?

[Hil]

I have begun to notice that when I get a spike of t, there is intermittent pain deep in my ear on that side. So, for instance in March I had a few days where the t in my right ear was louder than usual, and I got moments of pain in that ear. Now I've been having a spike in the left ear for a few days, and pain is happening deep in that ear. Not a lot of pain, just here and there I'll get a moment of earache pain. (I don't have hyperacusis.)Anyone experience this?

 

[Briann]

I believe that type of pain is TTTS related. The T spike may trigger activity in the two middle ear muscles to instinctively try to clamp down the sound (and of course it doesn't work). This can result in a pulsating pain that can be sharp or a even some constant dull pain. For me, that pain doesn't last more than 10-15 minutes. When it happens, I try to relax with the goal of helping things resolve more quickly.

 

[Hil]

Doesn't TTTS come with a clicking or thumping sound? I don't have that. Btw, I don't have hyperacusis, like I said, but this post was moved here by a moderator.

 

[Briann]

TTTS does not necessarily come with a clicking or thumping sound. I imagine it usually doesn't include those symptoms although flutter is often reported. It is characteristically very slow changes in the contraction of those muscles. The idea is that they are held in a tense/contracted state rather than a relaxed state periodically and over unusually long periods of time. They do have ways to measure the changes in contraction but it is tougher to measure whether or not it is in a constant contracted state. I don't know if this is causing your pain or my pain, but it is reasonable and popular theory.

Whatever it is, this pain that I associate with TTTS pain (which occurs in both my ears occasionally) feels and behaves differently than my normal H pain (which is in my right ear only and is almost always sensitive). I find this TTTS like pain to respond to relaxation a bit more than my normal H pain.

 

[Hil]

Thanks for that info! Interesting....ever since the tinnitus and pain (and pressure) began 4 months ago, I've also gotten a faint "cr-crick" noise in my left ear right immediately after hearing any sharp or high noise. It's like I can feel movement in my ear when it happens. I mentioned it when I went to see an ENT but he dismissed it. (Did not feel satisfied at all with that ENT visit, he only spent a few minutes with me and didn't want to pursue anything.)

I was diagnosed with Eustachian tube dysfunction due to allergies, but I've been to an allergist since then, and the entire panel they tested me for came back negative. (Although it was a blood test, and I read that they can be inaccurate; there's a chance you can get false negatives...)

I have been in Cymbalta (antidepressant) withdrawal since last year, which completely upset my nervous system. In the hospital I was told it could be 2-3 years until my nervous system settles back down. One of the symptoms I've experienced in withdrawals was muscle tightness and muscle spasms. My thigh muscles would seize up and there were times I couldn't even stand for longer than a few minutes. Since last summer, I've had muscle spasms all over my body (they have gradually been calming down.) I wonder if my ear muscles are in spasm as well...like you were talking about, if muscles might be tensing for an unusual period of time...makes me wonder.

A few times this week, as I was waking up in the morning I felt what seemed like rhythmic contractions in my ear or ears, and the tinnitus happened rhythmically, either on the contraction or relaxation, I'm not sure which.

Can TTTS affect the Eustachian tube? I've had times where I've felt pressure in my ears.

 

[Briann]

Yes it can impact the Eustachian tube. The Tensor Tympani muscle is attached to the muscle used to open and close the Eustachian tube so there is a physical link there.

 

[ReyKalinic]

I have begun to notice that when I get a spike of t, there is intermittent pain deep in my ear on that side. So, for instance in March I had a few days where the t in my right ear was louder than usual, and I got moments of pain in that ear. Now I've been having a spike in the left ear for a few days, and pain is happening deep in that ear. Not a lot of pain, just here and there I'll get a moment of earache pain. (I don't have hyperacusis.)Anyone experience this?

hi

do you feel sounds in your neck/throat when you eat and swallow that trigger your tinnitus? I'm talking about palatal myoclonus very close to the tonic timpany tensor syndrome such other users have described

Here a medical reviw: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23571302

 

[ReyKalinic]

there is a thread already opened about this problem;

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...-and-tensor-tympani-surgery.3924/#post-173428

 

[Hil]

No, I don't have sounds in my neck or throat.

 

[Hil]

My ear issues are a mystery to me because some of the symptoms seem TMJ (TMD) related, some seem like it might be due to TTTS, some seem like it's related to Eustachian tube dysfunction, and there's definitely an anxiety component.

I was having pain in my jaws, neck, ears. My dentist fitted me with a bite splint to displace some of the weight on my teeth from nighttime grinding.

Around the same time, I saw a massage therapist for the first time, who concentrated on my shoulders, upper back, neck and head. She worked wonders. It took away all the pain I had been experiencing in jaws, face, neck. Even though it's been almost 2 weeks, that pain has not returned.

Tinnitus has remained. And I still get pain deep in my ears, which only happens for a second, or a few seconds. One night I pressed on the opening of my ears, and it really hurt. It even felt like burning. It hurt worse in one ear. The next day, I kept still getting the burning pain.

Exams of my ears have shown nothing abnormal, eardrum looks normal.